Time Apart
by Skeleton's Dance
Summary: When Sakura asks for a divorce Sasuke has no choice but to abide her wishes. But how will they get through their time apart when they both still love the other? When the lack of communication caused their marriage to fail how will they set things right again? SasuSaku M for language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I obviously do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**This was just an idea that popped up in my head a while ago, I'm not sure whether I'll continue the story or not. I do have some ideas for it. Don't expect me to post much until summertime, I have to write my thesis and I'm already far behind as it is. I'm grabbing onto anything distracting I can find ;), even though I know I shouldn't.**

**Let me know what you think and whether you want me to continue it.**

**Time apart – Chapter 1**

"… I want a divorce…"

Her quiet statement was only met with silence. He didn't say anything; he didn't even react. His face didn't show any emotion as she had hoped it would. At least then she would be able to know how he was feeling.

How could she be married to a guy that couldn't even muster up a reaction to her wanting to end their relationship?

"…You're hardly ever here, you always have to work. I never get to see you. And then when you're here you hardly ever talk. You don't ever tell me what you're thinking. You don't even show me what you're feeling. I just feel we're drifting apart"

She continued talking hoping to finally get a reaction from her husband of three years. But even after everything she had said to explain her decision he didn't react, she took a shaky breath, deciding to keep quiet now until he decided to speak. It wasn't that she didn't love him anymore. She couldn't imagine sharing her life with anyone else right at that moment, but she also knew that she couldn't keep lying to herself, or to him.

The truth was she had been unfaithful; a while back, after she had received a call from him that he would once again miss their date night, her friend Ino had taken her out for a night in the town.

Ino had forced her in a sexy figure hugging dress that showed off all her best assets, just to show her that it wasn't her lack of charm that had caused her husband to lose his interest in her.

There had been lots of alcohol and lots of swearing on Ino's part: "Who the hell does Uchiha fucking Sasuke think he is!?" followed by: "It's crazy that you need a fucking appointment to date your fucking husband!" And other profanities that Sakura would not dare to repeat out loud.

It was also Ino who had encouraged the very drunk pinkette to dance with that stranger who had bought her drinks.

She didn't need to explain how that night ended, just that she woke up very hung-over, naked in the stranger's bed. After that she made her way out as soon as she could only to get home to an empty house.

That night was two weeks ago, and it had almost given her some hope that she and Sasuke would be alright, since the next evening the two of them had sex again for the first time in months.

It had been passionate almost as it had been after they had just gotten married, but they had only just finished when Sasuke had gotten up and dressed to return to work.

It had been minutes since either of them had spoken; Sasuke had still not reacted to her request of a divorce.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

Tears were stinging in her eyes, as she stared at the man she loved so much. He had always had difficulty expressing how he felt, but when he proposed to her she had been certain he would at least show his feelings to her.

And he had… for a while…

But something changed and she had no idea what it was. One day they just started drifting apart.

"… I slept with someone else." She finally whispered.

"I cheated on you." She added hoping to stir up some emotional reaction from him.

…

Nothing…

Tears were silently streaming down her face now. She didn't know what to do anymore. What to say to make him finally react. She didn't want things to end, she wanted him to fight for her.

For things to turn back to the way they used to be. Sakura took a deep breath, finally looking away from her husband. Who was still just stood there looking at her, his face void of emotion.

A soft sob escaped her lips: "Damnit, Sasuke, say something! Aren't you going to fight for me?"

Finally his mouth opened and he finally spoke:

"What do you want me to say? You already seem to have made up your mind."

She held her breath for a moment, her tears streaming down her cheeks faster now.

"So you're going to give up just like that?"

"It doesn't seem like you've given me much of a choice. You're already asking for a divorce. And you decided to sleep with someone else. There's not much I can change about that."

He was silent for a while, before he added:

"I'll pack my things, you can keep the house."

As he walked out and made his way upstairs she let herself fall back on the couch, she buried her hands in her hair leaning on her elbows as she cried.

"… Sasuke…" She mumbled, knowing fully well that he wasn't going to hear her.

It wasn't long before she took a deep breath and dried her eyes. She knew she shouldn't cry, this was her decision and it was for the best. She still loved him and if he loved her things would be all right in the end.

But if he didn't… She sighed, fighting the tears once more, for she realized that if he didn't she had no right of keeping him here. She wanted him to be happy as well, she could force him to change his habits make him come home more often, but that wouldn't make him happy and she couldn't be happy knowing he was miserable.

She walked to the kitchen grabbing a glass of wine, after pulling her long hair from her face by putting it in a high sloppy bun. When had her perfect life taken such a wrong turn? Where had it all gone wrong?

After a few sips of wine Sakura walked upstairs to their bedroom.

Upstairs Sasuke was packing up his things, even though he wasn't showing it on the outside, on the inside he was screaming out that this wasn't how it was supposed to go.

He knew they had grown apart; he was there to witness it. And he also knew he was what caused it. It had been little over a year ago when people started pestering them about children. And quite frankly it had him freaking out.

He hadn't been ready for kids he was 25, he had only just finished college, and was starting out in his new job. He wanted to get their life in order before starting a family.

So when Sakura brought up the whole baby thing, after her mother had gone on and on about it, he had freaked out. He had pulled his walls back up; he had sought his distance.

And he got it, a little too much of it, honestly. Sasuke took a deep breath and sighed. He had hurt her by it, the woman he loved…

The only woman he could ever love…

He heard her footsteps outside the room and he heard her stop in the doorway.

"You shouldn't be the one moving out, you wanted this house…" She said.

"I wanted it for us… For our future family" He continued packing his bag.

"No, Sasuke, it wouldn't feel right to me if you had to find a new place. I'm serious. You worked so hard for this. I'll find my own place, it would do me good a new environment and everything…"

He turned to her, he could still see she had been crying, and he was to blame for those tears. He knew she wouldn't have cheated on him had he been there with her more often.

He could see in those beautiful jade eyes of her that she did still love him deeply and he could also see that she meant what she was saying. She didn't want to stay in this house after what happened here.

"Right, of course… You have somewhere to go tonight?"

She smiled half heartedly, walking up to him, she softly stroked through his hair.

"I can stay with Ino until I found a new place."

Tears were actually starting to form in his eyes, blurring his sight. He kissed her forehead softly.

"Please don't go, I can change…" He muttered.

He saw how she bit her bottom lip, she seemed to be pondering whether she could give that a go. But she shook her head.

"We need some time apart, too much has happened."

She started switching his clothes in the bag for her own, and soon she was all packed up and ready to go. He walked her to the door when she was ready helping her load her things in the back of her car

"Right… I guess I'll be going then… D-Don't be a stranger okay… I do still love you." She said as she kissed his cheek softly.

She quickly stepped in the car and drove off, before he could even respond. Watching her drive down the street he muttered:

"I love you too"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I obviously do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**The amount of reactions I received from the first chapter of this story intrigued me to say the least. It seems I struck a nerve with my idea of having Sakura cheat on Sasuke. Let me tell you this, I do not say Sakura made the right decision sleeping with someone else, and I do think cheating is wrong but I'm also a realist in thinking that people aren't perfect. People make mistakes, and people have things they regret. And I don't think that the one who cheated is always the 'bad guy' in the story.**

**I tried to show that Sakura's mistake of cheating was at least partially caused by Sasuke's neglect of her, that does not mean that Sakura didn't make a mistake. I think that in a mature relationship people are capable of working through their issues together, through communications, without immediately trying to blame one or the other. They both made mistakes in my plot and they'll both have to work to make it up to the other. **

**Things will be further explained in this chapter.**

**I hope this does clear some things up for you guys, and I hope you see that this extreme amount of interest you guys have shown has brought me to immediately want to continue on this. (I write this the day after the first chapter was posted.) So thanks you guys, I love the thought you put behind reading and reviewing this chapter. **

**Time Apart – Chapter 2**

"That jerk how the fuck dare he kick you out of the house! He neglected you first, it was his neglect that drove you away!"

"Ino, stop it, I said he could keep the house, he offered to leave first… Besides I made mistakes as well."

"He was barely home anyways, so what the fuck would he do with such a house anyways!? The jackass, I can't believe the guy!"

"Ino... SHUT UP!"

Sakura panted slightly from shouting at her friend like that. The reaction might seem a little extreme. but she had been at Ino's place for three days and all she ever heard from her best friend were things to bring her soon to be ex-husband down.

She knew Ino was just trying to make her feel good, doing her 'job' as her best friend of hating the ex and just telling her what was wrong with him. But to be completely honest, her list of negatives of herself was longer than her list of him.

She spent hours in the shower hoping to rinse those strangers touches off of her, but she could feel his hands on her and it made her feel sick to her stomach.

She finally turned to look at her blond haired friend, the look on her face said it all: she wanted an explanation for her sudden outburst.

"You don't need to hate Sasuke… I don't hate him… I still wish we'd be able to work through this together. Work things out, something happened that drove him away from me and to his job, and I want to find out what that is."

Tears were starting to form in her eyes again, she didn't want to start crying again, she had done enough of that, things needed to get done. She had found an apartment the day before, the papers were signed and in two days she'd be able to move in.

So she still needed to order furniture so that would be delivered in time, she needed to figure out what colour she wanted to paint the room. And she needed to get it all done soon since she only had a week left to settle in before she had to get back to work.

"I still love him, and I just hope that he can forgive me for what I've done to him."

Ino sighed: "Stop beating yourself up, you've been doing that ever since it happened…"

The blond stroked a strand of pink hair out of her friends face and behind her ear and said:

"I'm sorry I spurred you on that night. We all make mistakes, and that was one of mine. Come on. Let's get you some furniture before you have to sleep on the floor for weeks."

Sakura and Ino spend the whole day picking out furniture, paint colours , curtains and everything. And even though Sakura knew her moving to the new apartment was imminent she had a hard time committing herself to it. It made the divorce feel so final while the papers weren't even drawn up yet.

How could she decide what colour her bedroom walls should be when all she wanted to do was sleep between the four walls of her old bedroom, her actual bedroom?

In the end Ino finally forced Sakura to make a decision and order everything she needed to have it delivered to her new apartment on the day she'd have to move in.

When they came home after a late dinner Sakura fell down on the couch that functioned as her bed as long as she'd stay with Ino. She felt both physically and mentally drained at the moment and all she wanted to do was sleep until all of this was over.

It was one pm by now, and Sasuke was still lying in bed. He usually wasn't one to sleep in. He was usually up quite early, but ever since Sakura had packed her things and left he just couldn't find the energy to get up at the usual hour.

But right now his peace was disturbed by the constant ringing of his doorbell. It could only mean one thing: Naruto was here to disrupt his day. He wasn't surprised the blonde had showed up, he had been working from home for three days ever since he was alone. It was just that he had hoped to be able to mope in silence for just a few more days.

Naruto being here meant he would have to do something, take action. And he just wasn't ready for that yet. He knew Naruto would try to patch things up between the two of them, Naruto loved that his two best friends were together and Sasuke was sure that his knucklehead of a friend was heartbroken when he heard things weren't going well for the couple.

Sasuke was just about to get up to let Naruto in when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. So the dobe had found out that the kitchen door had been left unlocked…

Sasuke sat up, rubbing his hand through his hair to make himself a little more presentable. He had been wearing pyjama bottoms, so no worries in that area, but Sasuke did start to wonder whether the whole situation had taken it's toll one his body.

It had only been three days, but in those three days he had barely slept, even though he had spend a lot of time in bed. He had trouble getting his food down, he had to force himself to eat.

"TEME!" Naruto shouted as he barged into the room. He leaped onto the bed taking his raven-haired friend into a headlock.

"I warned you about your behaviour with Sakura-chan! I told you she'd stop waiting for you one day" 

When Naruto found that Sasuke didn't struggle against his grip, as he usually would, he let go of his head. He looked as if his eyes would roll out of his head soon.

"You're as bummed as she is!"

"Of course I'm bummed, dobe! My wife wants a divorce." Sasuke replied, but now actually considering what his friend had said he asked:

"She's really that upset?"

Naruto stared at him incredulously. Sasuke didn't understand what had been so weird about what he had just said.

"Of course she's upset, man. She loves you, she's crazy about you, has been ever since we all went to school together. That never changed."

"It changed enough that she'd sleep with someone else." Sasuke buried one of his hands in his hair, messing it up even further.

"Fuck, man, I really screwed up, haven't I?" he asked his blonde friend while looking up at him. Everything was just so confusing right now. Why couldn't things go back to the way they were, before his wife slept with someone else, but also before he had to go all paranoid.

Naruto shrugged: "You both did… The question you need to ask yourself is whether you can get over her cheating on you… Oh and can you be all lovey-dovey with her again, instead of ignoring her?"

Sasuke stared at his hands that were lying in his lap. He had to get used to his idiot friend actually making sense. His fiancé's gentle behaviour, and more importantly her rational thinking, was really rubbing off on him.

"I'll have to… Even though I'm not sure if I can. It's not a situation in which we can simply kiss and make up."

"I still can't get over the fact that she cheated… On you! I mean she spent so long trying to get you to notice her and then when she's finally got you…"

"It didn't turn out the way she expected it to be…"

They were both silent for a while before Naruto decided to break the silence:

"Well man come on you've got to take a shower and go out, we'll have lunch or something, you really need to go out into the open again."

Sasuke knew it was no use trying to argue with the blond so he got up reluctantly and dragged himself to the shower. The rest of the day they spend out and about, going for a long lunch (or in Sasuke's case a very late breakfast) and going to the gym for a much needed workout.

It wasn't until dinnertime that Sasuke realized that he still had some paperwork to do before tomorrow. But even though the paperwork had momentarily slipped his mind, his pink-haired was still centre stage in his thoughts. Sasuke had to commend Naruto for his efforts, but it seemed he could not be distracted from the matters at hand.

**A/N so the final bits and pieces and revision took me a little longer. I'm still not fully satisfied since this chapter seems really filler-ish. Which it sort of is, on top of it being very short. I'm not really sure how to continue.. I do have some ideas, but it just feels too rushed to incorporate them now. But well we'll see…**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I obviously do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

**Time Apart – Chapter 3**

Sakura dropped down on the couch that was currently functioning as her bed as well as her couch. She had been painting all day and most of her new apartment smelled of the different chemicals one can find in paint.

She had left this one room untouched and had moved everything she would absolutely need in there for the coming few days as the paint would need multiple layers and plenty of time to dry.

Sakura sighed as she rolled onto her back. She had moved out of Ino's place as soon as she got the key to her apartment, since she really didn't want to intrude any longer than absolutely necessary. Things we're taking longer than she had hoped for. She had expected to have finished by now so she could go back to work tomorrow, but now at four a.m. the day before she was supposed to return it was clear that she would have to finish decorating next to her work at the hospital.

Her eyes flicked towards the alarm clock next to the couch, 4:06 the bright red letters read. Slowly she let her eyes fall shut to try and at least get those two hours and 24 minutes of sleep her alarm allowed her.

Luckily Sakura drifted away to sleep quite soon, but when her alarm rang she felt as if she'd only just fallen asleep minutes prior. She dragged herself out of bed to the bathroom. She undressed before she stepped under the hot water, carrying her toothbrush in there with her. She brushed her teeth, and rinsed off the smells of sleep.

After she dried herself off, she wrapped a towel around herself and tied another one in her hair to keep the wet strands away from her face as she put on her make up.

She'd have to put on a brave face today, she was certain everyone at the hospital knew what had happened between her and Sasuke by now. She did not want to be pitied, especially not at work. That's why she took some extra time on her make up that day, to hide the bags under her eyes and to give her face that healthy peachy glow it always had.

With her hair now being towel dry she started massaging the mouse she always used in before blow-drying it completely, letting the locks flow down to her mid back.

She had packed her work clothes in a separate suitcase so they'd be easy to find, so it didn't take long for her to find, her underwear, a pair of sheer stockings, a knee-length black pencil skirt and bright red button up blouse. For now she'd put a tailored black jacket over it until she'd have to switch it out with her white doctor's coat.

As she made her way to the kitchen she stepped in her high black heels. Then she made herself some muesli with fresh fruits and yoghurt and a big cup of black coffee. Some of the muesli mixture she packed for her lunch at work as well as the leftover salad she had from the day before and a bottle she would refill with water.

She grabbed the file of the patient that would come in first that morning and read it as she ate by the counter. She didn't have a dining table set up yet and even if she did she doubted she'd ever use it to eat her breakfast at.

When she got to work Sakura immediately found that her suspicions had been correct, everyone did know about her pending divorce. As soon as she walked in all the heads of staff members turned in her direction and in any hallway she would cross whispers would start.

People seemed to have their own versions of what had happened and even though Sakura kept her chin up, she had multiple people offering to take jobs from her hands or offer her lunch and things like that. It actually made her feel as if she were disabled; without a man you're not even capable of wiping your own butt.

When she walked into the break room at around noon to eat my lunch Sakura already felt exhausted. Not only was she constantly bothered by people who wanted to show their compassion, but the week of paid leave she had received had made her workload pile up. She was just busy catching up, seeing the patients she couldn't help the previous week.

Sakura sat down in my usual spot near the window with a patient's file in hand. As she opened the lunch box that carried my muesli, she felt her phone vibrate; a message from Sasuke.

'_Naruto said you found an apartment, need help? Wanna talk X S'_

It actually made her smile a little, maybe all was not lost after all. He wanted to talk so that must mean he wanted to put work into fixing what they had, right?

'_Sure, that would be great, get home at 6:30, 6:45 if I get the food. You got the address? X S'_

She was about to put her phone away not expecting him to respond immediately, but was surprised to find it buzzing soon after she had sent the text.

'_Yeah, got the address. I'll bring food, see you 6:30. X'_

6:30, huh? Sasuke barely ever came home from work that early when they were married, was he really taking the effort to show her he could change his behaviour? But what about herself? How could she show him she didn't just sleep around on a regular basis? That she did feel bad about what she did to him?

Sakura absentmindedly ate her lunch as she stared out the window; the file lay forgotten on the table. It was only when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and saw a brown haired girl sit down opposite of her that she awoke from her reverie.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, you seemed to lost in thought." Tenten spoke. "Neji said Sasuke has been a little out of it ever since… this whole situation started. He wanted me to go see how you were doing."

She explained guessing what the questioning look on Sakura's face had meant. I packed my lunch, which I had finished by now.

"I really do not want to talk about how I'm doing."

"I said Neji wanted to know, don't flatter yourself. I'm just here to get those stitches out."

Sakura laughed gently at that, Tenten had the tendency to be a bit of a clutz. Just last week she had bumped her head against the open door of one of her kitchen cabinets it had left a nasty looking v-shaped gash that needed a few stiches. Luckily for her she didn't have a concussion and her hair would nicely cover the cut.

But even though Tenten wasn't asking and she had a story to cover up her being there in the hospital, it was clear she wanted some information on how her friend was doing.

"Sasuke wants to come over… Tonight… Help with the apartment and… talk…"

"Well, that's good right? If you guys talk you can maybe work things out. This isn't a permanent thing. It you and Sasuke, for Pete's sake, you two don't break up!"

A small smile grazed Sakura's lips at that comment but it was soon replaced with a frown.

"But how do I go about this? I mean how do I tell him I want to make up, without compromising my own needs. Because I don't want to go back to the way it was even before I… well… you know… "

She looked down at her hands for a moment, letting the feelings of guilt was over her for the umpteenth time just that day.

"But at the same time I don't want to seem like a heartless bitch that acts like he is the only one that needs to ask for forgiveness… Am I making sense?"

Tenten laughed a little again: "You're sort of going on a coockoo rambling spree here, but yeah I do get what you're saying. Well first of all I wouldn't put too much effort in the way you look, you don't want to portray a wrong image of yourself right now, I think. Then secondly he wanted to talk, so let him talk so he can get everything of his chest, don't give excuses for what you've done… But well most of all just talk, you aren't fighting a war, you know?"

Sakura sighed as she combed a hand through her hair. She knew her friend was right, that was not the problem, she didn't see this discussion as some kind of war she needed to win. It was much more like some kind of truce, with negotiations for peace. These were negotiations in which one wrong move could cause a full on war.

"You're right, but I gotta get back to work. Tell Neji I'm doing fine considering."

She said as she stood up and packed her things, she waved her friend goodbye and walked out to go see her next patient.

That evening at six, she felt exhausted as she walked to her car. She was sure she looked it too, before she started her car she tied her hair in a sloppy high bun with a hair tie that she always carried around her wrist, just in case. It was still quite hot out so she took of her jacket and threw it in the back before turning the radio on and driving home.

It was 6:15 when Sasuke arrived at Sakura's new apartment building, he was never early, but he had decided that he couldn't be late for this appointment. It was the first time they'd meet after they had decided to take a break after all. He had something to prove to her.

The food was securely wrapped in tinfoil to keep it warm long enough and as Sasuke made his way up to the apartment. He figured Sakura wouldn't be home yet since she could be just as much of a workaholic as he was, not leaving a minute before she actually had to.

Sure enough, when he knocked on the door of her apartment not a sound was heard inside so he decided to sit down on top two stairs. Leaning back on his hands he looked around the small hallway and stairwell. He could tell that the building was nothing luxurious, but it wasn't too bad. It was in a safe neighbourhood, which eased his mind a little.

Just before 6:30 he could hear hurried footsteps down the stairs in the hall, soon after he heard them stumble on the first flight of stairs with some muttered swears. The footsteps continued up the stairs, to the next and the next until he saw Sakura step around the corner, slightly out of breath from running up all those flights of stairs in her heels.

Those heels, they we're like five inches high with a platform how could she walk around in those all day? Had she always worn heels that high to work? Sasuke couldn't imagine him not noticing something like that as he watched how his wife made her way up the last flight of stairs towards him; a soft smile grazing her lips. Her legs looked miles long cause of those heels and the skirt she was wearing. That skirt had probably been another factor in her stumbling on those first stairs, it was tight, he couldn't imagine they'd give you a lot of space to move your legs.

"You didn't have to run."

"I know it's just that I saw your car in the parking lot and I didn't want to keep you waiting for too long."

She smiled as she now stood right before where Sasuke was sitting on the stairs, she leaned forward a little hesitantly and kissed him on his cheek.

"Thanks for coming over"

She said as she stood up straight again and followed me as I stood up and walked the last few steps up the stairs. "I had actually hoped to change before you got here, but you're early."

She said it in a light tone of voice, without judgment but at the same time Sasuke could hear the slightly pleased tone in the way she said it. Sakura reached in her bag for her keys and opened the door, letting him in first.

"Hn."

"W-Well it's not like home, but I guess I could make it like one. I finished painting last night, so I just have to move the furniture in place and then start on the bedroom, painting it and everything. It's a mess right now, really…"

"No need to explain. Let's eat before we do anything else." Sasuke said as he made his way to what he presumed to be the kitchen, going through the cabinets to find plates and glasses for the two of them and setting everything down on the livingroom floor.

Sakura had in the meantime stepped out of her heels and grabbed a bottle of wine, which she uncorked before kneeling down where Sasuke had set everything up.

"Oh great you got Chinese! I'm starving."

For now they were both content avoiding the subject at hand, they had silently decided that they should first let the wine loosen up their tongues just a little bit. As Sakura poured them both a glass of the dark red liquid, Sasuke started filling their plates.

"I figured you would be, you don't eat enough when you're at work."

Sakura puffed up her cheeks a little in slight aggravation:

"It's not that bad… I just get caught up in work, so I forget to eat…" she argued as she took a sip of her wine. She took her now filled plate from Sasuke with a soft 'thanks'.

"… So how've you been?" She asked realizing they couldn't stop avoiding the talk any longer. She started to eat slowly keeping her eyes glued on her husband. At least she hoped she could still call him that.

"Well, I've been better, obviously. But you were probably right. We couldn't continue the way things were going… I just hope this isn't the definite direction we're headed for either."

That comment made her smile a little: "I don't want it to be the way, either."

"Good, but then what is the way?"

Sakura looked up trying to think of the answer to that, before turning her attention to her plate.

"I would say we use this break to work things out, find the person we fell in love with again. Maybe start over."

As crazy as it was it didn't sound like a bad idea to Sasuke. They could just start dating again. They were both still attracted to one another and didn't want their relationship to end, so maybe there was away to start things over.

"Let's just give that a go…" then Sasuke was silent for a while the question that had been gnawing at his brain on the tip of his tongue.

"C-Can I know who?" he quietly spoke, he couldn't continue not knowing who had touched his wife in ways only he should be allowed to.

He could see the way Sakura closed her eyes in a combination of both regret and admission. She had been dreading the question, but had know it would be coming, she bit her lip not knowing how he'd react or how she should go about this.

"… You don't know him… I wouldn't dare doing that with one of our friends… Actually scratch that I shouldn't have dared at all" The silence that greeted her confirmed her expectation that he wanted to hear more than that.

"Ino had taken me out one night, when you cancelled our Friday evening date again." She said, the struggle she was going through clear on her features. It pained her to have to tell him this. It pained her that she had done it in the first place, he knew it did but that didn't make it any less true or any less painful for him. He had a right to know what had happened.

She continued explaining her words slow and well thought out: "Ino was furious with you. I was just hurt, I had a lot to drink and Ino was setting me up to dance with some guys, just to dance. You know, get flirted with to boost my confidence. And well there was this one guy who really seemed interested and with my drunken head I just didn't say no to him." Sakura's eyes turned to Sasuke's face hoping to see his reaction there.

"I don't mean to excuse what I did with me being upset or drunk, though… It shouldn't have happened regardless of the state I was in."

Sasuke sighed a little trying his best to stay calm and guarded: "It does help your case a little though…" He took another bite before adding: "It's nice to know that it wasn't a fully conscious decision, that you needed to sedate yourself before you could make that mistake."

Sakura put her plate aside, her appetite lost completely. "Will we be able to get passed this?"

"We're gonna have to… I can't imagine life without you as my wife… I still love you, even though I don't always show it." He whispered the last part knowing fully well that he would have to explain his behaviour soon as well. He was also done eating and took a couple of sips of his wine.

"I love you too… B-But… What changed with you?"

The dreaded question, he knew the answer to it, but he wasn't sure whether Sakura would like to hear it.

"… It was the fear of getting children… Everyone had suddenly started asking when they could be expecting the first baby to come. And it just freaked me out. I figured a bit of distance would make babies being born impossible, but well I forgot it made a marriage impossible as well."

He had expected her to be shocked, angry or maybe he even expected her to burst into tears. He knew she did want children and for her husband to be scared of the idea of them could cause a lot of problems. But she didn't do any of those things, instead she smiled slightly, it was a warm, reassuring smile even though it also showed a hint of bitterness.

"… That explains a lot."

"…What aren't you angry or something? You want children and I'm scared of getting them?" Sasuke questioned in confusion

A soft chuckle came from her lips as Sakura started to clean up the dishes: "Knowing it scared you is actually quite reassuring, I was scared too… It's quite normal, getting children is a big step. With people pestering you about it you'll start thinking about it and then it suddenly seems so close. Even though it's a decision that should not be taken lightly… It's reassuring because it would mean that the only problem we had in our marriage is that we don't talk enough. Which would be easy enough to solve had I not made things more difficult for the two of us…"

Silence reigned as Sakura left room for him to respond to her last statement. It was meant as an invitation to either tell her that he couldn't see past what she had done, or to say that in time they could get over this. She slowly started to clean up their dishes as Sasuke took his time to think over what she had just said. To her surprise Sasuke immediately started helping her. They both cleaned up the remnants of their food and put the dishes in the dishwasher to be cleaned that night.

"So we'll work things out." Sasuke finally concluded when they were done.

"We will." Sakura smiled a little in relief.

"Now go take a shower and change, I know you want to. And you can't carry around furniture in that."

Sasuke watched Sakura walk into what he presumed to be her bedroom. He figured he could best start opening some of the boxes that were piled up in the hallway and see if he could get a head start on furnishing this place.

He dragged a big flat box into the living room and opened it to reveal a wooden dining table. He put the four legs aside, grabbed a screwdriver and the screws that came with the table and started putting it together. He would show her the guy he really was, the guy she got to know when they first got married.

He'd take her out on dates again, that was the first step for now. He would make her realize that he's willing to change his behaviour; that if they were to move back in together he'd be home more often, that they'd do things together.

Just as he as he finished the table and turned it on all fours, Sakura came out, her wet hair up in a bun. She wore a simple denim blouse with some paint stains and a pair of short shorts. On her feet she wore a pair of simple worn down sneakers.

"Wow, you've already started." She beamed as she walked in. She didn't waste any time before helping him set the table where she wanted it. Then they both dragged a new box towards the living room to put together what ever was inside it.

At 2 am that night they got to the last box, which contained the bits and pieces that together would form her bed. Together they dragged the couch she had been sleeping on out of her bedroom and to the living room, before putting her bed together in her bedroom. When they had finally placed the mattress on and she had made the bed they both collapsed on it in sync. They both lay sideways on the bed, Sakura with her head on the right side and Sasuke with his head near her feet on the left side of the bed.

"You're welcome to crash here tonight, so you don't have to drive home at this hour…" It was close to 3 am by now and she knew it would be close to four by the time he'd be able to go to bed if he were to go home now.

"Hn…" Sasuke was already close to dozing off as it was, it had been long since he had been this exhausted.

Sakura heard in his tone of voice that it meant 'thanks' and relaxed. She only took the effort to set her alarm for the next morning, before allowing her self to drop her head on the bed again and falling soundly asleep.

Well there it is… finally. Chapter 3! Let me know what you think, hope you're not bothered by the lack of drama. There might be some in later chapters, but I'm not entirely sure yet, I'm still planning out the details. If you have any suggestions you're always welcome to let me know, I might incorporate them in the plans I already have if I like it.

Sorry for the long delay I am finally finished with my thesis. Have been for a little over a week now but I had to get some time away from the computer and typing words ;). So I enjoyed the sun as much as I could (as it has been raining a lot as well), but now I felt obligated to finally finish this chapter.

So thanks for reading and please review, I'd like to hear your opinion!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N I obviously do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I don't even know why I keep saying this since it's so blatantly obvious and this whole site is based on that principle. But well, just in case…**

**Time Apart – Chapter 4**

The next morning Sakura awoke in her bed, with her head on her pillow and her feet at the end of the bed where they should be. She concluded that Sasuke must have turned her around that morning when he woke up, to get to work. She knew he'd already be out, her alarm hadn't rung yet, but he started working before she did and he probably wanted to shower and change his clothes before work.

Sakura decided to get up, since she was awake now anyway. She made her way to the kitchen, to prepare herself a healthy bowl of cereal with fresh fruits and yogurt. She also poured herself a fresh cup of coffee, before she sat down at her newly set up dining table, opening a file to get some work done while she ate her breakfast. But even though her eyes we're scanning the words before her, her mind wasn't processing what she had just read. Sakura's mind kept traveling back to Sasuke, and how nice it had been of him to help her put her apartment together until so late at night, especially since he still had a long workday ahead of him.

Sakura sighed as she dumped the file back into her bag, to be read at a later point in time. Deciding she would allow herself this moment to get lost in her thoughts before she had to push them all to the back of her mind and get to work. It seemed Sasuke was trying to prove a point by being there for her now, to show her that he was trying to learn from his mistakes.

His fear of getting children had been a revelation to her, she had never known the pestering of their family and friends had bothered him this much. It would have been so much easier had he just shared that with her instead of burying himself completely in his work. She knew his brother had tried to convince him often times to go back home to have dinner with her or to just spend some time together, but his fear of starting a family had caused him to want to avoid any form of intimacy. Sakura liked to think that she would have understood had he told her what was on his mind, that it would have stopped her from running into the arms of an other man, and actually she truly believed that it would have. It would have stopped her from wrecking their marriage even further, to the point where it might be irreparable. But he had said they would be all right, he still wanted her as his wife, even after what she had done…

Sakura was now just sipping on her coffee, the dark bitter liquid streaming down her throat and warming her body, waking it up for the start of her day. All she could think about now was how they would continue from here, they had talked about wanting to find the person they fell in love with again, but how would they go about doing that, she thought as she heard her alarm ring in her bedroom. That would have been here cue to wake up had she not been up already, so she got up to turn the alarm on her phone of and take a shower.

As Sakura turned the alarm of she saw she had a message from Sasuke, it had been sent at 6:04, so that must have been when he just left her apartment: _'How about dinner next Friday? I'll pick you up at 7 X S'_

The text brought a smile to her face; Sasuke had just answered one of her questions for her. They would just start dating again, getting to know each other again. However, next Friday she would leave for New York to attend a symposium on methods for diagnosing various heart diseases _'Sorry, this Friday won't work, how about the one after that? X S'. _It would be nice to reconnect, Sakura thought as she took of the clothes she had been wearing the evening before. She had not known what he was working on for a while now; she didn't know what kept him busy these days.

When Sakura left her apartment it was close to 7:30 and she still had to grab another cup of coffee on her way to work. It would be a close call, but nothing could ruin her mood that day, not after she had received another text from Sasuke after she had left the shower. It had been short, and she wasn't really sure why but for some reason the text had made her really happy.

'_Sure, can't wait. XX' _

Knowing Sasuke the second 'X' had been a well considered gesture, and she also knew Sasuke would never say he couldn't wait unless he actually meant it. It actually made her feel giddy just thinking about it.

At a quarter past four Sakura couldn't believe how quickly her day had gone down the drain. She got a little late to work, which wouldn't have been too bad in a normal situation, but as it was the hospital had been overflowing with patients and there had not been enough doctors to carry the workload.

So she had been working non-stop, seeing and treating patients back to back. She slowly felt her energy levels plummeting, until just half an hour ago. When suddenly black spots appeared in her vision, to the point where she thought she might faint. She immediately retreated to her office to sit down for a moment and eat something. Which she had yet to do, as she right now found herself hunched over the toilet, throwing out the entire contents of her stomach.

When she finally felt confident that she wouldn't start throwing up again she flushed the toilet and pulled herself up only to be greeted with the familiar black spots that we're threatening to take her consciousness and pull her back down to the floor, but she managed the grab the sink and hold her self up by putting her weight on it. The way she trembled and the way her clothes stuck to her body told her that she was getting feverish. She rinsed her mouth to get rid of the foul taste of bile that was still present in her mouth. And made her way back to her office to lie down. When she found herself lying back on the couch of her office she reached for her phone in the pocket of her labcoat to call Ino. She took deep breath and closed her eyes as she waited for her best friend to pick up the phone.

"HIYA, Forehead. How are you doing?!" She heard the blonde shout on the other end of the line. And at that moment she was thankful she had considered the possibility of her loud best friend shouting when she picked up the phone, which had caused her to keep the phone an arms' length away from her ear.

"Shht.. Ino, I'm sick… can you come pick me up? I don't think I can drive home like this…"

That did shut her friend up, she told Sakura she was right on her way: "what do you think is wrong with you?" Ino said as she hurried towards her car.

Sakura groaned inaudibly she wasn't up for any type of conversation at this moment. "Someone came in with the same symptoms yesterday… Just a bad case of the flue… Listen Ino, I'm in my office, and I'm going to try to sleep for a bit. Thanks anyway." Sakura said as she hung up the phone. Breathing deeply in and out through her nose, Sakura tried to get the room to stop spinning around her. She tried her best to get some sleep but a stinging pain in the right side of her lower abdomen was making it impossible for her to do so.

It felt like hours before Ino finally walked into her office, kneeling down next to her and putting her cool hand to her forehead. "geez, forehead you're burning up… Are you sure you don't want anyone here to check it out?" She mumbled as to not aggravate the pink haired woman's headache.

"No, it should be fine, I've taken some pills to lower the fever just after I called you, they should be kicking in any minute now, as well as the pain killers. Then just a few days of bed rest and I should be good to go…"

When they finally got to the car Ino started again: "Are you really sure this is just a bad case of the flue? Have you had your appendix removed?"

"Ino, come on I'm a doctor, I would recognize an infection in my appendix." Sakura ground out.

Ino frowned: "I still think you should let someone here check it out… Could it have anything to do with thát night?"

The emphasis her friend put on the word 'that' made Sakura realize she was talking about the night she cheated on Sasuke. "Ino, seriously just leave it, it's just the flue, trust me. Pregnancy wouldn't cause these kind of symptoms, and besides he used a condom and I'm using birth control so that's just not possible."

Ino left it at that, realizing her friend must be right. She brought her friend up to her apartment when they arrived home. Sakura's apartment had significantly improved since the last time she saw it. She helped her friend into her pyjamas and into bed, before asking whether there was anything else she could do for her. Sakura just said that she'd be all right and that she'd call if anything was up.

So the blond just placed a glass of water and medicine she might possibly need on her nightstand, and a damp towel over her forehead as well as a bucket next to her bed, just in case she'd have to throw up again. Finally she placed Sakura's cell phone within reach before leaving the apartment.

It was the night of the date he had planned with Sakura, and to be honest Sasuke was actually a little nervous. So when he arrived at Sakura's apartment he had to take a deep breath before he finally got himself to knock. He had sent a couple of text messages to ask whether they we're still on for the night but he hadn't received any messages back from her. Which was kind of strange, she usually did respond to any message he'd send, but well it could very well be that she was just caught up in work or something.

When she didn't answer the door after a few minutes of waiting, however Sasuke was starting to get worried, so he knocked again, before calling her cell phone. Through the door, however, Sasuke could here the muffled sound of some eighties pop song come to life. Informing him that her phone was inside the apartment. At that point Sasuke started to panick, Sakura would never leave her house without her phone, so he took her key out of its hiding place. Opening the door, and frowning to find her apartment seem like it hadn't been lived in for days.

Her bedroom however was quite the mess, the sheets rumpled and folded open, a half empty glass of water, empty strips of painkillers and other medication, and a bucket. Sakura had been sick, he concluded. But she was not in the apartment now, which made Sasuke's heart jump in his chest.

Trembling slightly he reached for his phone again, deciding to call their mutual best friend.

"Naruto… W-Where is she?" Sasuke said, hating the fact that his voice didn't come out as strong as he wanted it to.

"Sasuke…? You mean you don't know? Sakura has been in the hospital for a week! They can't figure out what is wrong wi-…"

Sasuke didn't hear the rest of Naruto's explanation as he had already hung up the phone and rushed to his car. Why the fuck hadn't anyone informed him that his wife was so sick that she had to be taken to the hospital? Why hadn't he been informed that she was sick, period? He rushed to the hospital, ignoring the speed limits and traffic lights where he could. He parked the car right before the entrance, not giving a fuck whether his car would be towed, he needed to see her, now.

"Sir! I'm sorry, you're not allowed back there! Visiting hours have ended over an hour ago." The stubborn nurse just wouldn't let him get passed. And it was getting on his nerves.

"I'm Sakura Uchiha's husband. I need to see her!" he said trying to push the nurse aside. "She really needs her rest, mister Uchiha."

"You're the one who's causing me to get worked up, I wouldn't cause her any stress if you'd just let me see her" The Uchiha ground out glaring at the nurse. Since when wasn't he able to convince people to do what he wanted? And who was she to block her path anyway. That's when he spotted Ino walk out of the room he knew Sakura was in. He wouldn't usually ask the Yamanaka for help but since this was quite possibly his only chance: "Ino!"

The blond looked up when she heard her name being called, a quite possible frantic looking Uchiha stood some meters away from her. 'So he really does still care…?' "Umi, could you let him through please? I think it would do her good to see him…"

Sasuke thanked Ino as he walked passed the nurse and walked up to her. "Any clue on what's wrong with her?" Ino sighed a little: "Not really, they might have found a part of it, but her symptoms are to extreme for that to be it." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her, urging her to explain: "Just ask her, it's not my place… I'll be here again tomorrow, okay?" She said as she started walking away from him, but his voice stopped him.

"Ino? Why wasn't I called sooner?"

The blond turned around to face her best friend's husband: "I'm sorry, Sasuke, that was my fault… I didn't know you two were on speaking terms. She just woke up again today, the first thing she asked was where you were, I was just going to call you… I really am sorry."

At first she figured she wouldn't receive any reply from the stoic Uchiha, but she was once again surprised: "It's alright… Thanks for taking care of her…" he said before entering his wife's hospital room.

Sakura had heard them talking in the hallway, and she was already mentally preparing herself for the conversation they we're about to have. The medication they had given her at the hospital had made her able to cope with all of the symptoms that she had, but she still had a hard time forming cohesive sentences let alone, have a difficult conversation. Of course he would be easy on her, her situation warranted that much, but still she had no idea how he would react to what she had to tell him.

The room she was in was dark as Ino had left her to rest some more, but she still noticed how careful he was when he walked in, trying not to make too much sound. "It's okay, Sasuke, I'm awake… you can turn on the lights."

In his outline she could see how his shoulder relaxed, and how he reached for the light switch. As the light switched on she could see the shock on his face. "yeah I know… I've looked better." She mumbled with a light smile. He sat down next to her bed: "What the hell is wrong with you? Yamanaka wouldn't tell me…"

"So now she's Yamanaka, again?" she joked, Sasuke and Ino had never been good friends, but they had some kind of mutual respect since they both loved Sakura in their own ways. But the look Sasuke gave her this was not the time to joke about that.

"I-I'm not sure, nor are any of the other doctors… The pain in my abdomen would suggest an infection of my appendix, but since they removed that a few days ago and nothing has changed, that's of the table… They found a mass in one of my fallopian tubes today, which they are going to take out tomorrow."

"Is that the thing Ino was talking about, that thing that was unlikely to cause such extreme symptoms?"

Sakura spoke before actually thinking about what she was saying: "No, that is the actual pregnancy." And as she finished the sentence things actually started making sense in her brain. 'Fuck, how could I not have thought about that? It explains every single symptom. The stomach pains, the elevated HCG levels, the dizziness and fainting, vomiting, the clammy feeling, the bleeding…the mass… it fits…'

She was so busy checking her symptoms that she actually forgot the news she gave the Uchiha next to her: "a-actual pregnancy… Y-You're pregnant." That shook her from her thoughts. "Owh fuck, Sasuke, I didn't mean to break it to you like that…" She said trying to sit up a little more so she'd be able to reach him, but he pushed her back down.

"I-Is it… h-his?" She just looked at the man she loved so much for a while, he looked so forlorn, the fact that he lost weight since she'd last seen him and the dark circles under his eyes, made him only look even more lost. She slowly reached for his cheek with her hand, placing it there gently. He only leaned into her touch slightly.

"N-No, it's yours, b-but I'm not sure if it will make it through…"

He looked at her for a moment, realization setting in: "cause you've figured out what is wrong with you." It wasn't a question he had seen the realization in her eyes; it had clicked for her when she told him about the pregnancy.

She nodded slowly: "It's too risky to wait till morning, I'm lucky nothing happened yet. Could you call a nurse?"

Sasuke just nodded, running to the corridor to find a nurse, his questions would have to wait until Sakura was safe. When he finally found someone he was a little out of breath and absolutely panicking: "Sakura figured out what's wrong with her, she needs surgery right away." The nurse rushed after Sasuke back to her room only to be greeted with the words: "Heterotopic pregnancy…"

**So that's it for today… I finally updated again… how long has it been? Too long, that's it. Just let me know what you think. And let's hope I'll be a little quicker with the next update…**


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